California details plan to buy millions of masks

<p>Gov. Gavin Newsom Wednesday laid out his plan to purchase millions of masks a month amid the coronavirus outbreak.</p><p>"All of us are working, in some cases collaboratively, in other cases, across our respective jurisdictions and sometimes against each other in the open market to compete to procure, through a supply chain that is global, more PPE," he said, speaking at the daily briefing.</p><p>Newsom announced Tuesday announced a consortium of nonprofits and acquired technology will provide 200 million medical masks a month for his state and possibly others in the U.S. The state is getting N95 masks, designed to protect against particles in the air, as well as surgical masks, which protect against fluids.</p><p>Answering reporters questions Wednesday about whether this procurement move was due to frustrations working with FEMA and the federal government, Newsom say no, and thanked the Trump Administration for its cooperation.</p><p>"This is an opportunity for me to thank our federal partners, thank the Administration, the Task Force, FEMA, the incredible work of Tom Fenton and the entire FEMA team, the chain of command, the President of the United States, himself. We thank them for their collaborative spirit."</p><p>The governor said 442 individuals have now died from the novel coronavirus in the state of California, which represents an 18 percent in the state’s COVID-19 death toll since he last briefed the press on Tuesday.</p>